House Call
by Michelle the Editor
Summary: When Fire Heart becomes mysteriously ill, Clare calls up an old ally to help. Second of the Letters Between Rangers spinoffs, but no special order of reading required. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, or the inspiration for this story, the 35th chapter of Pink Wolf Princess's Letters Between Rangers.

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Clare jumped back just in time. A gout of flame scorched the earth at her feet, and set the hem of her dress on fire. Yelping, she tried to stomp it out, tripped and fell in a heap. Fire Heart roared, flapping his wings. Clare shouted a water spell, dousing the flames and herself.

Sitting there, Clare caught her breath, and swiped a sodden blonde curl out of her eyes. She wondered where the Mystic Rangers were, and then remembered that it was the weekend. Nick, Udonna and Leanbow were out with Mr. and Mrs. Russell, and the others were filling in some missed time at the Rock Porium. Fire Heart rumbled miserably, flicking his tail.

"Is it your stomach, Fire Heart?" Clare asked, getting up and shaking the water out of her dress. The dragon was curled up in a ball, moaning occasionally. Clare wrung her hands miserably. "I can't do anything if you can't tell me what's wrong!"

Going out into Root Core, Clare pulled out all the books on dragons she could find, and sat down. The more she browsed, the more worried she got. The only book that even mentioned sick dragons was so convoluted that she got a headache just from staring at the letters. Slamming them shut, Clare tried to think. Fire Heart's continued whimpering distracted her. Did even Udonna know how to treat a sick dragon? Probably not. She was a sorceress, not a veterinarian.

"Wait." Clare stopped up short. Her face lit up. "I know who to call! Finishio!" And she vanished with a flash and shower of sparkles.

"Mama?" Fire Heart called. "Mama?"

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It was dark when Clare returned, holding the hand of a tall, dark-skinned woman in a white lab coat.

"Thank you again for coming at such short notice."

"Hey, I'm glad to help," her visitor said, shifting her black bag in her grip. "And that you actually remembered Xander telling you about me from Adam. A sick dragon isn't something anyone should handle alone."

"Fire Heart! Mama's home!" Clare called, leading the woman into the tunnel. The dragon perked up as it saw her. "Fire Heart, this is Aisha. She's going to make you feel better," Clare said. Smiling, Aisha walked over to the dragon.

"Could you roll over, Fire Heart?" She asked. The dragon did, with a moan, and Aisha looked at his wide, pale stomach. She ran a hand along his scales, and he rumbled a little. Aisha looked back at Clare, who hovered anxiously at her elbow.

"Has he eaten anything unusual lately?" She asked. Clare frowned thoughtfully.

"I don't know, he was alone all yesterday evening. I'll go look around and see if I can find anything!" And she bustled off.

"Mama?" Fire Heart called, but Aisha shushed him.

"She'll be right back," she said, patting his side. Fire Heart sneezed, and scorched part of the doorway. Aisha raised her eyebrows, and moved a little further away from his head. For a few minutes, the only noise was the dragon's breathing. Then footsteps came running down the hall, and Clare ran inside. She was delicately carrying some pieces of bright green cactus.

"Fire Heart, did you eat these?" She asked, dropping them on the floor. Fire Heart looked up, and flapped his wings, rumbling affirmatively. "Fire Heart, you know you can't just eat everything in the forest!" Clare said. Fire Heart whimpered, and Clare softened, stroking his nose. "It's okay, you didn't know, but next time pick something that doesn't have spikes all over it."

"Where did he even get those?" Aisha asked, as she dug in her bag. Clare looked at the cacti.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like them in the woods around here," she said. "Can you help him?"

"These should do the trick," Aisha said, pulling out a bottle of pills. She shook out a handful, counted ten, and passed them to Clare. Fire Heart gulped them down, and thrummed happily. Aisha got up. "Don't feed him for twenty-four hours or so, give him pieces of ice to suck on. When you feed him, make it something easy on the stomach, like eggs or plain yogurt, and not too much at once. He should be okay by Monday, but keep an eye on what he eats."

"Thank you so much!" Clare hugged the former Ranger.

"Hey, it's not every day I get to treat a dragon," Aisha replied cheerfully. She checked her watch. "I think I have to go now." Clare's face fell.

"You haven't even seen the rest of Root Core."

"Well, I wouldn't mind a tour first." Aisha smiled."Got to make sure these new Rangers are still up to standard." Joyfully, Clare seized Aisha's hand and pulled her into Root Core.

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A/N: This story assumes that during Once a Ranger, Xander heard about Aisha, and told his teammates and Clare about her, or that Clare knows about previous Rangers, which I don't think is too big of a stretch. There will be more of these takeoffs sprinkled throughout my future story writing. This time, I decided to write and post because I just graduated high school, and I like an excuse to do one of these fun little pieces, especially since my normal stories are getting dark.


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